Letters to PC

 Dear Prince Charming,

This afternoon you are a-venturing through the driving rain on a quest for Christmas presents, but sixteen years ago you were jollying along one hundred wedding guests who had to be kept happy in the hotel lounge until the central heating warmed up enough to let them into the function room where no-one had thought to switch the heating on, in December.

This afternoon you are braving the throng of Christmas shoppers which is exactly what our friends and family had to do sixteen years ago to brave our Debenhams wedding list because we thought it would be such a lovely thing to do to get married in December, three days before Christmas.

This afternoon you will be cold and soaked and probably frustrated, whereas sixteen years ago you were only cold. I remember toasting the camera with champagne in one hand, and devouring the heat from the bonnet of the wedding car with the other because it was so cold. That off-the-shoulder wedding dress was so perfect when I chose it, in the Spring.

Any old how, we're still here, and hopefully there will always be double-seater deck chairs at Polesden Lacey, in the Summer!

Mags x

Letters to PC IV

Dear PC,

Lookee, lookee! The beach day is nearly ready for release. I'm relieved that we can just make out your head above the double bass. I was becoming sure that they would completely edit out us old folk in the midst of all the beautiful people!  Mind you, part of me is also secretly hoping that they will do exactly that!

Letters to Prince Charming III

Love your work. It's a reformed blind, Ang!! And no, he wasn't standing on the floor...

Letters to PC II

 

Dear Prince Charming,

 

I am very glad that you are home. I know it was only for one night, and that you were technically still in the country, but that little old Irish Sea makes such a difference somehow.  Thank you for carving my pumpkin before you left. Everyone at Book Club was very impressed with its welcome at the door. And I was very impressed that you got not only the number but also the window from the title.  Also quite impressed that Ulster won. Must be the icing on the rugby trip away cake.

It was good that we had Book Club, I think. It kept us all busy. You would have been very proud of your boys, who opened the door for arriving folk, and helped serve food, and amused themselves manfully, and went to bed eventually with not (very) much protest.  It was a great night at Book Club.  Not everyone had hated the book, always a worry when you've chosen it!  It maybe wasn't everyone's cup of tea/coffee/hot water/sugar free lemon and lime stuff, but it did remind me of all those innocent abroad journey books I read at university, and there's such licence to mock all, and indeed all the century, therein.  We hadn't all thought it was a hilarious satire also on the Larsson genre of horrific violence in Nordic countries, but we had all loved the bit where the elephant sat down.

 

Anyway, you're back in the Land where all is golden and good, and that makes everything all right. There's such a hole in the whole when one is missing.  It makes me wonder at my beautifully justified jaunts away.  Not that getting away from it all is bad. Just that with you is better than not. I am very glad that you are home x

Letters to Prince Charming I

Dear PC,

I bought a mug today. I know that it's the Year of Living Small and that we don't need another mug, but really, it spoke to me! It is also the same colour as Jo's money box, the base of which he found. It was inside the money box. It must have got lodged there in your haste to get me some loose change for the hospital car park. So there's another of life's mysteries solved- along with the disappearing dinner ticket wallet, found by Jo again, in your car actually. So there's an advantage to my driving your car this week!

I got my car back from the garage today, by the way. Cost a bit more than I had expected, but that's ok because the men who came last night to unblock the drains cost a lot less than I thought they would so that's alright too! Mum gave them the check in the end, because I was at the emergency doctor with Jo. He's much better today, and Matt is well recovered too.

Today has thankfully been a very ordinary day, so far not one trip to a hospital, let alone two. I have been able finally to sort out new glasses, go to the supermarket and drink lots and lots of tea, some of it from my new mug!

We hope you are well, and awake, and adjusting to the time/language/luxury difference. At least with two queen size beds in your room you'll have lots of space to relax! I'm about to pack school bags and tidy up and sort out paperwork for the three things on the list for tomorrow, and then to bed, which feels like a two queen size ones when you're on the other side of the ocean!

Two sleeps,

Your strawberries x